


Gonna See Better Days

by starchaser22



Series: The Undercover College Student AU No One Asked For [6]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, Green Lantern (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (Comics)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Violence, White Lantern Kyle Rayner, but jason and conner do impersonate federal agents so thats fun, i did him dirty, im so sorry jason, lazarus pit and its lasting effects, this started out super light and fluffy and then i broke him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 04:30:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17237468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starchaser22/pseuds/starchaser22
Summary: Jason and Conner set forth to interrogate a potential drug dealer, but Jason soon finds himself a little too invested in the interrogation.





	Gonna See Better Days

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: This takes place DIRECTLY AFTER "The Calamity of Owen Hunter" and I STRONGLY recommend reading that first, at least the end, so you know what's going on (or the entire series, because, you know, full context).
> 
> I would like to apologize in advance for the second half of this. In recent years, people who have come back from the Lazarus Pit have had lasting effects that rendered them either 1. insane or 2. with a sense of intangible bloodlust. This hasn’t really been touched on with Jason in many, MANY years (that I know of), so I decided to bring it back. Because I enjoy suffering.

“FBI! Open up!”

Conner snickered from his spot beside Jason. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“You can do anything you want when you’re legally dead,” He grinned mischievously and pounded on the door. “FBI! You have five seconds to open this door!”

“Or we open it for you!” Conner added, a little too excited for someone on a drug bust, impersonating a Federal Agency.

Jason glared at him as he kicked down the door, gun held at eye level as they rounded the corner. Finding no one in the front room, they split up.

Conner headed off towards the kitchen, while Jason went to the bedroom. He took each step deliberately, gun held in front of him as he swiftly crept forward. Dick had specifically given him instructions to avoid firing unless his actual life was in danger, and while he didn’t have any desire to listen to Dick, he didn’t want to get kicked off the case. At least, he didn’t want to get kicked off if Roy was still here. Jason’s little gay heart just couldn’t take it.

He drove his heel into the door, right beside the handle, breaking it open. The suspect in question, a young man with scruffy red hair, was climbing out the window. It was like he didn’t realize they were on the third floor.

“Hands up!” Jason commanded, leveling his gun.

The man froze, looked at the gun, looked at who was holding it, and snickered. “You’re not FBI, where’s your badge?”

“I’m holding a loaded gun. A badge really matter to you?” Jason countered, flipping the safety off with an audible _click_. The man gulped nervously.

“Is he here? Is he in here?” Conner yelled, sprinting down the hallway and sliding in, leather jacket billowing behind him. Upon seeing the man trying to leap from the window, he jumped and excitedly pointed a finger at him, “Caught red-handed!”

Jason groaned and ignored Conner. “Listen, why don’t you just step inside, we can talk, and then you won’t fracture your spine from a third story jump?”

The man looked between the two of them, out the window, and then slowly climbed back in. He may have realized it was an awful idea to jump from that high, or maybe he saw Roy, perched on the opposite roof, held at attention in case something went wrong.

“Okay, good, now back away from the window with your hands up.”

He did as he was told, slowly creeping back into the bedroom. Conner cut between them to close the window, then turned on their suspect with crossed arms. Jason cautiously lowered his gun.

Everything was calm, and for a moment, it seemed like it was all going to blow over surprisingly well. Then a police car, probably on the way to bust some drunk party, had to conveniently pass by. The flashing blue and red lights set their suspect off. He made a sudden dash for the exit.

Jason swore, dashing after him. Conner flew ahead, but let out a loud and startled _oof_ followed by a _clunk._ There was a brief moment where he was filled with annoyance, both for their suspect and for his makeshift partner, who was honestly more like an immature sidekick. Jesus, was this what it had been like for Bruce whenever Jason had disobeyed orders?

He stumbled to a stop in front of a giant, bright green wall. Both men were splayed on the ground before it, clutching their foreheads and groaning achingly.

Sighing, Jason said, “You can come out now, Rayner.”

The wall fell to a smile almost as bright as the construct. Kyle smirked, arms crossed over his chest and said, “Guess you needed my backup after all.”

Jason wanted to punch that naive little grin right from his face. He’d insisted that he and Conner had it under control, but Kyle had protested that they should keep at least one person nearby in case something went wrong. This wasn’t even a high level dealer, so nothing should’ve happened. Jason cursed those cops who’d flown by and spooked their perp. Leave it to the police to ruin everything.

He really respected Kyle, with all he’d accomplished during his time as a Lantern. Admittedly, yes, Jason had despised him when they’d first met, but that was before the two of them had worked together. He’d always thought that Lantern rings were some kind of cheat. If people like Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner could wield them without problem, then it couldn’t really be _that_ hard. All you have to do is imagine a box around someone and then it’s there. Boom. Done.

After a couple hours of working with Kyle, he soon learned that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. The immense level of energy required to make one of those constructs, matched the high amounts of concentration needed to keep it up? Jason would never say this aloud, but it was rather astounding.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t be annoyed. “Could’ve done it myself.”

It took a few seconds for Kyle to actually acknowledge the two men whimpering on the floor. Knowing Conner would be fine within a few short moments, Kyle knelt down beside the dealer. He looked him over and ran some type of scan with his ring. “Concussion,” He diagnosed, “Should I heal him?”

“Well, I kinda need him for information, so, yeah?” Jason answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Kyle sighed heavily and bent down next to the man, who was withering and groaning quite annoyingly. His ring first emitted a green light that created constructs of cuffs around ankles and wrists. Then it flashed blue and enveloped the man in a shocking electric light. The room grew warmer as the light shined brighter. Jason squinted, determined to keep watch in case something went wrong.

It was a short procedure, but soon, their suspect was slowly sitting up. He reached for his forehead, but stopped short when he noticed the binding around his arms and legs. “Dammit,” He cursed, head falling back against the floor.

Kyle stood up next to Jason and went for a first bump. Jason rolled his eyes and scoffed, but met his fists anyways.

\---------------

Their suspect was tied to a chair - both with a hard light construct and traditional rope, since Jason and Kyle couldn’t decide who’s method was better. The two of them were standing to the side, arms crossed and watching as Conner tried his edgy schtick, with the studded leather jacket, black skinny jeans, and sunglasses (even though they were indoors). It never worked, Conner just couldn’t be threatening, but they let him try anyways.

Conner leaned over the man and looked down at him, crossed his arms and demanded, “You will tell us your name, you will tell us where the drugs are, and you will tell us your supplier.”

The man snorted and looked the other way. He didn’t speak.

Jason cracked his knuckles. “Let me have a go at him.”

Conner held up a finger, a silent request for more time. “Listen, kid-”

“Older than you,” He interrupted, staring up defiantly.

Conner stared back. “-I’m _four_ , everyone’s older than me. Now, we have friends in high places, so to speak, and I wouldn’t wanna cross them.”

“Can’t get it outta me if I’m _dead.”_

Conner backed up and admitted, rather defeated, “I give up. You guys take a shot at him.”

Cracking his neck this time, Jason took a few steps forward. Conner was never able to get information out of people. He was too soft, and his face usually reminded people of Superman, who isn’t very threatening. That’s why he and Tim worked so well together, Jason supposed.

Jason stood a few feet from him for a few moments, staring him down. He reached into his jacket and drew out a conveniently placed knife, twirled it slowly between his fingers. After a few tense moments, he took a step forward and held the knife at eye level, then lowered it. “As I see it, you don’t need all your toes for your mouth to work.”

The suspect eyed him nervously, “You ain’t gonna do that.”

“Willing to take that bet?” Jason asked, menace dripping from his tone.

Behind him, Kyle groaned, “Jason, a word?”

Jason flipped his knife one last time before following Kyle off to the side while Conner kept watch. They both stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind them. Kyle looked both directions, made sure no one else was around before hurriedly whispering, “This is gonna take too long. Just let me use my ring.”

“Not a chance, Rayner. You’re not even supposed to be on this.”

“But if he feels even the tiniest bit of guilt, the Indigo Light can-”

“No,” Jason’s voice was stern and cold, definitive. “We already sent his picture to Babs, and I’ll tell Conner to search the apartment. All we gotta do now is scare him enough for something to slip.”

Kyle inhaled sharply, paused, closed his eyes, then slowly breathed out. “Okay.”

“Good, now let’s go back inside. Tell Conner to search the place, I’ll work on scaring the guy.”

“Wait!” Kyle grabbed Jason’s arm. He was chewing at his bottom lip nervously when he asked, “You aren’t actually going to torture him, are you?”

Jason deflated a bit. Not too long ago, he would have done it without a second thought, but so much has happened lately. He’d grown closer with his family, worked with his Outlaws. He even fell in love. These things made him a tad… _soft,_ for lack of a better word. So he smiled, lightened his gaze, and told him, “I won’t. Just trust me.”

Newly reassured, the two of them went back inside. Kyle told Conner to search the place with his x-ray vision for any signs of drugs or, hopefully, the drugs themselves. Meanwhile, he texted Barbara for an update on the identity and Jason resumed absently playing with his knives.

Freely waving it around, Jason thought aloud, “You know, I used to run all the gangs in Gotham. Was great, really. I had this duffel bag of heads that I used as a tool to threaten people. I’d tell them that if they didn’t listen, they’d end up the same.” He twirled the knife around in his fingers, ran the smooth surface along them, and prickled at the tip. “Some of them did, but eventually it became a pain to carry around, all that rotting flesh and brain guts everywhere.” He stopped moving it, held the knife right below the man’s throat. “Now I have to threaten people the old fashion way.”

The criminal stared down the blade at Jason’s menacing grin, the murderous glint in his eye. He gulped and choked out, “Then why don’t you get on with it?”

“Let’s call it… a chance to save yourself.”

“You ain’t getting nothing from me.”

“Oh, I’d take that,” Kyle interrupted from behind them. “ _Benjamin Nelson_.” Excellent, Babs must’ve figured out the guy’s identity. Now they just had to wait for Conner to pull through.

Ben swallowed thickly.

Jason leaned back, smirked, looked over Ben, and then decided to speed things up. He surged forward, throat in his hand, and slowly drug the knife across his cheek. Nothing deep, nothing that would leave a scar, but it would definitely hurt. The man cringed and hissed beneath the blade, trying to pull away, but unable, due to the firm grasp around his neck. Jason went slowly, dragging it out as long as it could. The mark was about three inches long when he pulled back.

Okay, Jason didn’t want to get carried away with this. It could be hard to stay afloat during things like these, hard to give in to the bloodlust he’s harbored since his return from the dead. It couldn’t get too bad, just far enough to scare their suspect. A few marks and this guy would surely cave. He had soft, unblemished skin, no sign of prior physical torment. Just a little fear, that's all he had to do.

Slowly, he dug another scratch into the skin, right above the previous. Jason’s hand was steady and his reflexes were phenomenal, so he knew that this guy - Benjamin - was in no real danger of having his eye scratched out, but with how close he was, an unknowing victim may not suspect as much. He kept flinching, even whimpered as it came less than an inch from his eye. The knife dragged through the skin, glacially slow. He wanted to keep going, to keep dragging it across his forehead and down.

“Found the drugs!” Conner announced proudly, dashing into the room, only to freeze in his place at the sight of Jason’s actions.

He pulled away and held the knife up vertically, other hand on his hip. “So we know your name, where you live, and now we have actual proof that you’ve been dealing drugs. That’s enough to put you away. Anything you wanna tell us? Wanna lighten your sentence a bit?”

Benjamin hesitated. His eyes began to dart around the room, searching for some means to escape. He knew he was cornered, so he wouldn’t dare talk himself out of it, but that didn’t stop him from pulling on the ropes that bind him.

Jason sighed and put the knife down on a nearby table. “Listen, I really don’t wanna do this, but we will stay here until I get your supplier’s name.” He looked over the man. Ben looked fairly athletic, so he may have thicker muscles to protect his abdomen. If Jason pulls his punch enough, he could hit him with short pain and no lasting damage.

Aiming for a firm and solid hit to the upper right chest, Jason punched Ben. Conner and Kyle both flinched behind him. That was probably a little too hard, but Benjamin still wasn’t talking, despite being in pain, so Jason hit again. This one landed on the bottom left, below the ribcage. This area was never as protected, so it would hurt more, regardless of how hard he hit.

A loud grunt escaped past Ben’s lips and he hunched over. Jason punched twice more: square in the chest, and then another on the lower right. The breath flew from his Ben's lungs, but Jason kept punching.

Soon enough, it was just a flurry of punches, hits, the occasional jab. There was screaming, though whether it was Ben or Jason’s, he wasn’t sure. It was angry and pained. Jason wanted to stop, but there was a fuel, the bloodlust, and it kept pushing him for more. His own arms were out of his control, viciously thirsting for some type of vengeance, some sort of unrelenting release.

“Jason! Stop!”

He was flailing now, their suspect nothing more than a weeping, whimpering punching bag.

“ _Jason!_ ” A green light tangled itself around him, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him from the ground. He fought against it, thrashing in a futile attempt to escape. He heard Kyle barking out orders, someone was screeching - maybe it _was_ him, for his throat was raw and pinched. He continued to helplessly struggle against the construct.

The green dropped and morphed into something else, pinning him to the ground. A pink one joined it, swirling and connecting him to… something.

With a gasp and a cry, Jason was startled back to himself. He was exhausted and overwhelmed and _guilty._ Oh God, how could he have done this? He dared a glance over at the… the _victim_. He was slumped over, bloody, and breathing raggedly.

“Jason!” Two hands were on his shoulders, staring down at him with brows furrowed in concern.

“Roy?” Why was he here? He was supposed to keep an eye outside, but instead, he was here, witnessing Jason as he lost control, pulling closer and holding tight. Two strong arms were wrapped around him, so he just curled into it, buried his head into Roy’s chest and tried not to replay the images of what he’d just done.

“Good idea, keeping Roy nearby in case something went wrong,” Kyle spoke up, nervously bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched the two of them. “I was able to use his love for you with the pink light to bring you back.” He took a few steps forward and knelt on the ground two or three feet away, as if he was still scared Jason would lash out. “What happened?”

Jason really didn’t want to tell him, but it was probably important for him to know. He’d thought his days of being tainted by the Lazarus Pit were behind him, but it appeared that he was wrong. He could still get carried away, lost in the violence. That is something that his teammates should know, right? He just didn’t want to face it right this second, so instead, Jason curled up further.

Roy tightened his arms around him. “We can talk about it later, alright?” He laid his cheek atop Jason’s hair and held on. “Why don’t you and Conner take the guy in, I’ll take Jason home, and then we will all meet up to talk about it in a few hours?”

A part of Jason wanted to protest - was annoyed that all these decisions _about_ him were being made _without_ him - but he was far too tired. So he numbly allowed Roy to help him up.

Roy compacted his bow and tucked it into his jacket, then took Jason’s hand and led him from the building and across the campus. Jason wanted to pay attention, wanted to talk or protest to _stay_ , but was too distracted by the images flashing behind his eyes. The blood soaking, the cries, the screams. So, instead, he hung onto Roy’s hand and allowed him to drag them both back to Roy’s room.

Dick met them at the door with tea, blankets, and the promise to leave but stay nearby if they needed anything. Roy thanked him profusely while Jason blankly nodded. Wordlessly, he sat down on the bed and stared ahead.

Roy, meanwhile, was doing all he could to try and help. He wrapped three blankets over Jason’s shoulders, handed him the tea, closed the blinds, locked the door, and then proceeded to hug him as tightly as he could, murmuring words of adoration. He said it would be okay, that things like this happen and they needed to talk about it, but not right now. Talking could wait until he was ready.

Of course, Roy’d been around when Jason had first come back. He’d seen the first of his rampage, all the innocents who had gotten caught in the crossfire, those who hadn’t deserved to end up at the barrel of his gun. He didn’t regret all of it - there were some people, like serial killers, for the most immediate example, who deserved to die - but a large chunk of his actions weighed heavily on his conscience. His family had helped him through it all, sure, but Roy was the only one who he could really connect with. They both had their regrets, their toxic addictions, their decisions and habits that had ruined other people’s lives as well as their own. They’d found solace in each other, they’d grown, and for that, Jason would be eternally grateful.

Slowly, Jason sat up. He readjusted the blankets over his shoulders and shifted so that the two of them were facing each other. “Thank you,” He spoke softly and looked at his lap.

Roy reached over, gently laid a hand on Jason’s cheek, guided their eyes to meet. “I’m here,” He reassured, showing a small, encouraging smile. “I’m not going anywhere, and I love you.”

Jason lightened up a bit. Maybe it would be okay, knowing that it had been a temporary lapse without lasting damage, and that they were both here and safe. “I love you, too.”

Yeah, maybe everything would be okay.

\---------------

On the other side of campus, on a dark and abandoned rooftop, several young superheroes met. Kyle was hunched in one corner, besides Donna, who’s brow was furrowed and arms were crossed as she stared down the pavement. Zatanna was a few feet away, standing beside Wally, who had been fidgeting with nervous energy.

Conner stood at the head of their little group. They'd just returned from gathering information from their suspect. His fists were clenched, shoulders hunched, as he grit out, “This is so much worse than we expected.”

“So what happens now?” Zatanna looked cautiously around the roof. “Anyone wanna contact the Trinity?”

“No, we can’t do that,” Donna decided, stepping forward. “This is our job, we have to face it as is. No calling Bruce, no Clark, no Diana. They have their own problems to deal with. This is ours.”

Wally spoke up, simply in agreement. “Yeah, let’s not do that.”

“But why is this happening? We still don’t know why he’s doing it,” Kyle wondered, shifting back and forth on his feet. He eyed everyone around him; they were all staring down at the ground, unsure of what to do.

A thought occurred to Zatanna, and she cautiously spoke up, “We could always call in… _them_.” The way she said it, with such distaste, yet such certainty, everyone knew exactly who she was talking about.

Donna gasped, “ _No_.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Wally admitted. “It would be useful to have someone who knows more about what we’re up against.”

Kyle shook his head. “No, I don’t like it. They're unreliable at best, most likely a disaster waiting to happen. Plus, can they even fit in here? As a college student? I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“There are plenty of students who are older, they can just live off campus,” Wally suggested. "I say we call them."

Donna protested, “I still don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t trust them.”

The four of them settled into an uneasy silence, everyone glaring at each other, waiting for someone to back down. Since Dick, Roy, Jason, and Barbara weren’t there, it was up to them. Soon, Zatanna broke through the tension, “Conner, what do you think? You’re the deciding vote.”

He looked at each of them individually, carefully weighed the options - it was something he didn’t do often. Conner is more of a “run in, guns blazing” kind of guy, but to have such a heavy decision on his shoulders? He really had to take a moment to think about it. Conner didn’t know much about their potential teammate, but he knew that, with who they were up against, they needed all the help they could get.

“Let’s do it.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!  
> 1\. conner has pretty much just been comedic relief so far but DO NOT WORRY i have plans for him yet!  
> 2\. i feel so guilty for doing this to jason, but it is not “just cause.” this has a real reason. like, a plot reason. and its important.  
> 3\. who do you think the mystery person is? and who do you think the mystery villain is? i left it ambiguous at the end intentionally. leave me a comment with your guesses! (or just a comment in general. i love getting comments).  
> 4\. this is kind of the end of, like, "phase 1" you could call it. i have the general story planned out for 3 "phases," but that may end up being longer.  
> 5\. the best thing about this series is, even though i have this actual plot going on, there is room for cute little stories about their adventures in college! and i am totally 100% open to suggestions (comments!!!)


End file.
